The Premier Firebird Trans Am Gallery

The 1980 Special Edition Turbo Trans Am
Lot#1

 

Black and Gold S.E. Turbo Trans Am This Turbo Trans Am belongs to Brandon Flowers. The turbo-equipped 4.9L 301c.i. engine is the power plant of choice in this Poncho. Its mated to a TH-350 automatic transmission. The underside of the car features 4-wheel disc brakes and a radial tuned suspension. Optional equipment includes T-Tops, power windows, power brakes, power steering, rear window defroster, and a cloth interior. Brandon writes:

"This is a replica of the car from the movie "Smokey and the Bandit 2." It was the first to have the functional offset hood scoop. Because of the turbo, t he carburetor had to be raised and offset. Unfortunately, the only way the turbo charged motor came from the factory was with the automatic transmission. The car has all options and even one that I have not seen on another Trans Am. The taillights light up and say "BANDIT" on each side. Many people think that I have done this, but it came like this from the factory and is done on the inside of the taillight assembly.
I bought the car when I was 15 and am the 3rd owner of it. The 2nd owner did not own it very long, but long enough to burn up the turbo and to crack the block in three places. The motor has been rebuilt once, turbo replaced and re-painted. When the car went into hibernation it was still in great condition. I was just a poor student in college and it was cheaper to buy a little "rice burner." Now that I am not the poor student I have started the restoration because it has been sitting for many years. Unfortunately that restoration has halted for now because of traveling too much for work and putting funds on my '97 Trans AM. My goal for the Turbo TA is to get it back to original condition."

Brandon hosts his own home page. Click here if you'd like to stop by and see it, or you can head over to the '97 Firebirds Lot#2 to see the red convertible Trans Am that he owns.

 

 

Not too long ago I received an interesting e-mail on this car. It seems the owner was browsing the site and discovered his car was on it!! The owners name is Dave Mittner. Dave was kind enough to give me some information on the car to print here. Dave writes:

     "The car was an original Florida car until 1988 when it came north to Ohio. I purchased it in the spring of 1989 (with 83K original miles on it). The car is fully loaded with most all the available options except rear defogger (no need in Florida I guess). It doesn't have the Turbo hood lights either (its an early Van Nuys car - built Nov. 15, 1979). The paint on the car is presently 95% original with the usual stone chip touch up having been done. The car has NO undercoating and still has the original exhaust (except for the Y pipe from the Cat to the mufflers). As near as I can tell the motor has never been opened and the Turbo is the original one. It runs very well and gets decent mileage on the open road (running original 3:23 gears). The overall condition of the car was outstanding when purchased and continues to be (car now has around 96K miles on it). The car is a regular at the Trans Am Nationals in Dayton Ohio since 1989. That's where this picture was taken, around 5 years ago. The picture also appears on Pg 82 of Motorbooks International "Firebird and Trans Am Illustrated " book."

Thanks Dave for updating us with the story on your car!!

 

 

Black S.E. Trans Am Three engines were offered for the 1980 Trans Am. All three were Pontiac 4.9Ls except for a Chevy 5.0L which was only installed in California built cars. The first engine was coded W and was rated at 140hp. The next step up was the E/C code Y 4.9L rated at 155hp. The last and most popular option was the Turbo version of the 4.9L coded T which was rated at a respectable 210hp. The Turbo version came with a special hood with an offset bulge designed to accommodate the Turbo unit under the hood. A "Turbo 4.9" decal was affixed to the hood on the bulge.

Photo courtesy of Mark Allbaugh.

 

 











 Dan Fraser owns this 1980 Special Edition Turbo Trans Am. Dan writes:

     "My name is Dan Fraser, I live in British Columbia Canada. I was checking out your web page and thought I would send some pictures of my car for your special edition section. I have owned the car for four years now. My friend had bought the car when it was brand new and when I finally talked him into selling it to me, it had been in storage for nine years. There is currently around 50,900 km on the car. The car had a Perma shine applied when it was brand new and had been buffed once a year for the first few years of it’s life unfortunately thinning the paint on the rounded sections of the body. The car was repainted because of this. Other than that the car is unmolested. The car is pretty much fully optioned including air, cruise, turbo gauge lights etc."

 

 











 Jason Powell owns this 1980 SE Trans Am. Jason writes:

     "Thanks for the great web-site! Here's som pics of my 1980 Trans Am S.E . It was originally purchased in Tucson, AZ in 1980 for $11,570.52! I bought it from the first owner last year after it had been sitting up for some time. I had it shipped to my home in Mobile, AL and I have been slowly getting it back into roadworthy condition. The original 301 Turbo had been replaced years ago with a 400 Pontiac. I have a 467 stroker waiting to go in its place. After a tune-up and a new Edelbrock carb it runs like a top! I have added Recaro Seats, an Alpine audio system and re-conditioned the UV damaged interior. It has the factory WS6 suspension and Turbo Flow wheels. The other night a young guy in an Acura GSX pulled up next to me at a light and wanted to show me how the "New car guys do it". Unfortunately his Acura with the "Fart-Can" exhaust and giant wing wasn't up to the task. At the next light when he finally pulled up next to me, he asked me what I had under the hood. I told him an engine thats been out of production for 26 years! He put his turn signal on and turned right! Thanks again for the great site! I hope you can use the pics."